History of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Mackinac County

Source: History of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan: containing a full
account of its early settlement, its growth, development, and resources, an
extended description of its iron and copper mines : also, accurate sketches
of its counties, cities, towns, and villages ... biographical sketches,
portraits of prominent men and early settlers. Publication Info: Chicago :
Western Historical Co., 1883. Pages 366-372

ST. IGNACE.

St. Ignace was settled in 1671 by Father James Marquette,
and, for more than a quarter of a century, was really the center of everything
of interest in the, at that time, wilderness of Michigan. During this period, it
contained a garrison of about 200 well-disciplined soldiers, with a fine fort of
pickets and "about sixty houses which formed a street in a straight line." Some
six or seven thousand savages dwelt in villages near by. There was a Jesuit
mission and college, with an unbroken succession of Jesuit priests. The lands
adjacent were cleared and well cultivated, and a sufficient quantity of Indian
corn was produced for the use of both the French and savage inhabitants. The
town continued to flourish until some dispute arose between Cadilac, the
commander of the fort, and the Jesuits, when the former repaired to France,
where he received a commission to establish Detroit, which he did in 1701.
Subsequent to this date, the town declined until 1706, when the Jesuits became
discouraged, burned down their college and chapel and returned to Quebec. The
garrison was re-established in 1814, but on the south side of the Straits, at
Old Mackinac, now Mackinac City.

Marquette's Grave.—Rev. Edward Jacker, writing in
September, 1882, gives the following account of the discovery of Pere
Marquette's grave:

Father Marquette, one of the discoverers of the Mississippi,
was also one of the first Europeans who journeyed along the western shore of
Lower Michigan, and the first who was buried in its soil. His death occurred on
May 18, 1675, near the mouth of a water-course generally held to have been what
is now called Pere Marquette River.

Two young Frenchmen, the Father's traveling companions since the preceding
autumn, and the only witnesses of his lonely death, buried his body near the
spot where he died, and before continuing their journey to St. Ignace, erected a
large cross above the grave. By these means, some Indians, who exactly two years
later, passed that spot, were able, without difficultly or risk of mistake to
find the grave. Having first consulted as to the propriety of exhuming and
removing the remains of the missionary, whom they had personally known in their
former residence at La Point du St. Esprit, on Lake Superior, they disinterred
the body and found it completely desiccated, but otherwise well preserved.
According to their custom, they dissected it and placed the bones, divested of
the integuments, into one of their mawkawks, or birch-bark boxes. Arriving at
St. Ignace June 8 (1677), they answered the questions put to them (for the sake
of identifying the remains) to the satisfaction of the two Fathers in charge of
the mission. On the following day, the box containing Marquette's bones was
deposited in a small cellar under the Jesuit chapel.

The facts thus far related were communicated by Father Henry
Nouvel (Superior of the Ottawa Missions and present at the interment) to Father
Claude Dablon, of Quebec, who inserted them in his report of 1673-79. The
original manuscript was happily preserved through all the vicissitudes of the
Jesuit's mission in Canada, and first printed by John Gilmary Shea in 1860.

The mission of St. Ignace, at the southeastern extremity of
Upper Michigan, was abandoned in consequence of the Huron and Ottawa Indians'
removal to Detroit. Only a few Indian families and lawless French remained. To
prevent the desecration of the church by those people, the missionaries, at the
eve of their departure, set fire to the building, about 1606.

A few years later, the Mackinac mission and trading-post were
re-established, not, however, at the former locality, but at the apex of the
Lower Peninsula of Michigan (old Mackinac). Still the site of the former
mission—about seven miles across the Strait—was not quite abandoned. From the
records of the second mission (preserved on Mackinac Island), it appears that
about the middle of the last century, a French farmer lived at St. Ignace. After
1781, when the fort and chapel of "Old Mackinac" were transferred to the Island,
several other Canadians settled at St. Ignace, where some of their
descendants—principally mixed blood—are still living. By these means, a
creditable tradition as to the site of Marquette's grave has been preserved.
About 1821, the well-known Father Richard, of Detroit, made the first thorough
unsuccessful search after the vestiges of the ancient Jesuit chapel. An aged
squaw still pointed out the spot where, within her memory, a large wooden
cross—marking the site of the mission—had stood at the head of East Moran Bay;
but a dense growth of timber and underwood now covered the ground.

In 1838, the present Catholic Church of St. Ignace was built,
at a distance of half a mile southeast from the head of the bay. About twelve
years later, the section of land within which tradition placed the grave of
Father Marquette came into possession of the Murray brothers. They felled the
timber on the low level ground at the head of the bay, but, tilling only a part
of it, allowed the underwood to grow on a patch of a few acres immediately
behind David's house, at a stone's throw from the shore.

Several circumstances, even then, bore evidence to the former
occupation, by Europeans, of that particular neighborhood, such as the discovery
of shreds of silken and embroidered staffs, a few feet under the ground, close
to the house, the traces of small log houses, plainly visible to the east of it,
in the shape of square or oblong ridges with a hollow in the middle and a heap
of stones in place of the chimney, and the plowing up, at some distance behind
the house (west), of stumps of cedar posts, the evident remains of a stockade
running north and south for quite a distance.

In the spring of 1877—two hundred years after the interment
of Father Marquette's bones—Mr. Patrick Murray, son of David, cleared the patch
on which the underwood had been allowed to grow. On this occasion, May 4, it
happened that Peter Grondin, a half-breed, engaged in the work, stripped a
corner and part of the sides of what appeared to be the foundation of an ancient
building. On the following morning, the heaps of brush that covered the ground
having been burned to ashes, the whole foundation, in size about 35x40 feet, the
longer sides running east and west, became plainly visible. It consisted of flat
limestones, partly covered with sod, and formed a ridge about two feet in width
and rising from a few inches to a foot above the surrounding level. Within the
foundation, near the southwestern corner, a hollow, about ten feet square at the
top, and five feet deep, presented every appearance of an artificial excavation,
the whole surrounding ground being perfectly level. The circumstance that no
trace of a fire-place was to be seen within that area, seemed to indicate that
the superstructure had not been used as a dwelling-house.

Behind (west of) the oblong formed by the stone foundation,
and connected with it, the vestiges of a more extensive building, or complex of
buildings, were seen, somewhat less distinctly, since stone was used more
sparingly for the foundations, but plainly enough to distinguish several
apartments, in three of which heaps of limestone indicated the former existence
of large chimneys.

At a short distance behind the buildings—a little to the
left—a hillock, of evidently artificial origin, presented the unmistakable
appearance of a large root-house, long gone to ruin. And immediately behind it,
the last traces of a long ridge —described above as the remains of a
stockade—were still visible.

On the same day, the writer having been advised of the
discovery, visited the locality, and, on close examination, found the facts to
be as stated above. Soon after, a copy of La Hontan's Voyages, with a plan of
the ancient St. Ignace (as seen by that traveler in 1688) came into my hands.
The correspondence between that plan and the traces discovered was perfect, and
greatly heightened the probability that the site of the old Jesuit mission had
at last been discovered. Nothing, in fact, seemed to be wanting to identify the
locality but the finding of a disjointed human skeleton, within a birch-bark
box, or at least, traces of both, imbedded in the cellar-like excavation
mentioned above.

On September 3, nearly four months after the discovery, the
proprietor's permission not having been obtained before that date, the final
search was made, in the presence of a considerable concourse of people from the
neighborhood, with the following result:

The bottom of the ancient cellar was found covered to the height of about a
foot with decayed vegetable matter. At one corner, a post, superficially burned
and partly decayed, was still standing in its original (perpendicular) position;
it was imbedded in sand and gravel, in consequence of the caving in of the sides
of the cellar. Underneath the vegetable soil, on the ancient floor, lay
scattered pieces of small timber, more or less charred and decayed; lumps of
mortar, showing the impress of cedar logs; wrought nails and spikes; a
door-hinge; fragments of a large glass jar and small pieces of colored glass.
Toward the west end of the cellar, some small pieces of charred birch bark were
found, and it soon became evident that here a small excavation had once been
made in the bottom of the cellar, to the depth of about two feet. This space
contained, besides the sand blackened by the admixture of charcoal, many small
particles of pure lime; a large amount of birch bark in shreds, generally crisp
and partially charred, and two small fragments of bone. At the bottom of this
smaller excavation lay a large piece of strong birch bark, in a horizontal
position, and supported by three almost decayed sticks.

A private search made on the following day by Mr. Joseph
Manly was rewarded by the discovery of about thirty-five small fragments of
bone, the largest hardly two inches in length, and derived from diverse parts of
the human skeleton. They had lain closely together behind the smaller
excavation, at-about the height of the floor of the cellar, under the loose sand
detached from its side.

The result of the search, as here described, became soon
known throughout the country, and very little, if any, doubt as to the identity
of the ancient mission site and Marquette's grave was expressed by those
qualified to judge. Positive proof, such as the discovery of an inscription
would have been, was certainly wanting, but the circumstantial evidence appeared
very strong. Everything, short of the presence of the principal bones, that
might have been expected to be found, was found; and no fact came to light that
could not be easily accounted for. The absence of the principal parts of the
skeleton is sufficiently explained by the assumption that other parties—be it
the missionaries themselves or the people remaining after their departure—had
removed those bones to some other place of interment; or, as the Indians were
likely to do, used them for superstitious purposes. The very circumstance that
most of the small fragments were found outside the grave, on the floor of the
cellar immediately behind it, strengthens that supposition. In the process of
extracting the bones, they would naturally have first been placed on the cellar
floor, behind the grave, where small particles crumbling off were lost sight of,
and, in course of time, covered up by the caving in of the ground.

The sketch of the church at St. Ignace was learned from La
Hontan's travels, which were translated into English and published at London in
1772. This sketch, together with the evidence to prove that the first settlers
there saw a large black cross standing on the spot, led Pere Jacker to direct an
exploration of the location. On September 3, 1877, Bishop Mrak inaugurated the
explorer's work, but was unsuccessful.

Subsequently, the exploration of the spot, on which a large
black cross was said to stand in the olden times, resulted in the discovery of
the first chapel, and, undoubtedly, in that of the bones of the venerable
missionary priest. It appears that Peter D. Grondin was employed by Patrick
Murray five years ago to excavate the ground in the neighborhood of the old
church. The search was suggested by Mrs. Peter Grondin, his mother, who
remembered that Catherine Martin saw a large black cross standing there. The
story was related to Pere Jacker by Peter Grondin, who also informed the priest
that he found the foundations of the old church. Several square yards of dirt
were dug up, until, on finding a heap of cinders and a mocock, the hopes of the
explorers were satisfied. When Peter D. Grondin found the bones and cinders, he
sent for Pere Jacker; who took the cedar and birch bark mocock into his
possession. A few of the bones have been sent to Rev. K. Ham by Father Jacker,
hut the greater number are still in his possession.

Respecting the site of the Marquette mission, the following
letter from the highest authority on such a subject is given:

ELIZABETH, N. J., April
15, 1877.

Dear Sir—Though it is more than twenty years since I first wrote, I
have never yet been able to identify the various positions which the Mission of
St. Ignatius assumed at Mackinac. The vagueness and uncertainty continue, as
demonstrated in the following locations:1672 Map in Relations shows it on
N. Shore.

The original mission seems to have been on the northern
shore, map in Rel 1672; or perhaps on island, Marquette's map.
Transferred to northern shore between 1673 and 1688; on N. shore till 1700.
Restored on S. shore by Louvigney 1712. The mission on the island seems to have
been casual. The mission began N. of lake, but after the restoration of post was
begun in 1712 S. of strait.

H. H. HURLBUT, Esq., Chicago, Ill. Yours truly,

J. G. SHEA.

There is a possibility that Father Marquette set out from
what is now known as Point St. Ignace, on his voyage to the Mississippi, in the
spring of 1673. The map drawn by his own hand—to-day in St. Mary's College,
Montreal—was no doubt drawn while he remained at the mission of St. Xavier, near
Green Bay, from the autumn of 1673 to that of 1674. On that map, the mission of
St. Ignace is located on the Island of Mackinac. This may be due to the fact
that all the district and islands in the vicinity were included in the parish,
and that a temporary station was established on the island. No doubt may exist,
however, regarding the discovery of 1877. Marquette never in life returned to
the Straits after the month of May, 1673.

The subject of placing a substantial monument over the grave
was brought before the Village Board May 23, 1882, when the following preamble
and resolution was offered by Trustee Reagon:

WHEREAS, Rev. Father Kilian Haas has invited
the citizens of St. Ignace to contribute to the erection of a suitable memorial
chapel over the grave of Marquette; and
WHEREAS, This pioneer missionary, martyr and explorer planted here his mission,
on the far frontier, more than two centuries ago, and here he lived and toiled,
and, dying not far away, was returned here to a grave; and
WHEREAS, His name and fame are, in a measure, bequeathed by time to the people
of St. Ignace, who, recognizing his foresight, see for themselves a grand future
for this the site of the mission he founded, and for the Upper Peninsula over
which his watchful care extended; and in order that they may assist in
perpetuating and preserving from desecration the grave of him whom it is sought
to honor, therefore be it.
Resolved, By the President of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Saint
Ignace, that the sum of — be, and the same is hereby, appropriated from the
general fund, to be expended in the erection of a suitable iron fence, with
stone copings and corners, and a gateway bearing some suitable inscription,
such, as "Here for two centuries have rested the remains of Marquette. Erected
by the people of Saint Ignace, 1882,"and that the sidewalk be laid with flagging,
and that two iron street lamps be set at the curb
and lighted every night, to point to the visitor and to remind the citizen that
the people of Saint Ignace honor the memory of the illustrious dead of two
centuries past; and it is further
Resolved, That, with the approval of Father Kilian Haas, a
contract shall be let for the work, which shall be first approved by the
Council, executed under the inspection of the Committee of Public Improvements,
and that D. Farrand Henry, Esq., civil engineer, be invited to assist in the
plans and designs, and Father Kilian Haas be invited to co-operate with the
committee in so far as his duties will permit.

The question received further consideration, with the result of having a
monument erected to him by the people of the village. The "West will build his
monument," in the prediction of Bancroft, yet unfulfilled.

Francois De Levere was the first to die; he was buried near
the present Catholic Church before it was built in 1834, and before the building
of the church began, in 1832.

The first American settlers at St. Ignace were Messrs. Hobbs,
Puffer and Rousey, soldiers of the Revolution.

The first Irishmen who made a settlement at this point were
John Graham, who came about 1818; he planted the trees now standing opposite the
Catholic Church, and was a survivor of the Indian massacre at Hudson Bay;
Patrick McNally came in 1847; John Chambers, Dominick, David, Michael and
Patrick Murray came in 1848-49.

Among the Indians best known to the early settlers were
Maconce, of Manistique; Nanbenwa, of St. Ignace; Anse and Cettago, of St.
Helena; Chabowa, of the Snows; Chabogushing, of Pine River; Maskoose,
Wishebenoit, or Benoit, Amal Benoit, of St. Helena; Mesdames Lafromboise,
Fisher, Charnier, of Mackinac.

An old house built of cedar logs, hewn on both sides, stands
near the water in the vicinity of the Martel Furnace. This building was erected
by order of John Jacob Astor, for the purpose of storing furs, as well as of
sheltering the voyageurs, who might arrive here at a time when a storm rendered
a trip to the headquarters on the Island hazardous.

ORGANIZATION.

The following is a copy of the resolution incorporating the
village of St. Ignace and describing the boundaries thereof, as passed February
24, 1882:

"In the matter of the petition of B. B. Hazelton and others,
praying for the incorporation of the following described territory into a
village of St. Ignace: Commencing at the shore of Lake Huron, at the dividing
line between Townships 40 and 41 north, of Range 3 west, following the shore of
said lake, and thereby to the south line of the land owned by Ignatius Reagon,
thence west along the south line of said Reagon's land to the east line of the
Detroit, Mackinac & Marquette Railroad; thence northerly along said line of said
railroad to the north line of Private Claim No. 19, the dividing line between
Townships 3 and 4 west; thence north along said dividing line of said township
to the north line of Township 40 north, Range 3 west; thence east on the said
north line of Town 40 north, Range 3 west; thence west to the place of
beginning.

"It was ordered by the Supervisor's Board that this territory
be, and the same is, incorporated into a village, to be called the village of
St. Ignace. And it is further ordered that B. B. Hazelton, I. Reagon and William
Hintz be, and the said B. B. Hazelton, I. Reagon and William Hintz are hereby,
appointed Inspectors of the first election to be held in the said village of St.
Ignace on the third Tuesday in March, 1882.

First Village Election.—March 23, 1882, was a day made doubly
memorable by reason of the visit of the big storm and the holding of the first
charter election in this village. The polls were opened at 10 A. M., Daniel
Kanter casting the first ballot, which was followed during the day by eighty-two
others. The caucus nominees were all elected, and the next day all had qualified
as follows:

QUESTIONS OF TITLE.

James C. Conkling, trustee under the last will and testament
of Edgar A. Conkling, filed a bill in the Circuit Court, in chancery, for
Mackinac County, for the specific enforcement of the land contract made between
himself and John Graham in 1857, the same covering Claim 1, St. Ignace. The
defendants are the Graham heirs and their vendees, and this includes the D., M.
& M. R. R. Co., Chambers Bros., the children of Archibald P. and Wilson Newton
and the remainder of the Graham heirs. The prosecution will be conducted by
James C. Conkling, a prominent attorney of Springfield, Ill., assisted here by
P. N. Packard, and the defense by E. Hadley (attorney for the D., M. & M. R. R.
Co.), Judge Brown and by Humphrey & Perkins, of Cheboygan. By this bill, Mr.
Conkling asks the court to compel the defendants to deed to him, as Trustee, all
of Claim 1 (excepting five acres) of 454 acres net, for the sum of $2,000. His
claim is based on a land contract, made in 1857, by John Graham and Edgar A.
Conkling, providing for the sale of said claim to Conkling for the sum
mentioned, on which contract $25 was then paid.

Eva M. and Romaine I. Wendell, heirs-at-law of J. A. T.
Wendell, deceased, by James Bennett, their next friend, have commenced an
ejectment suit relative to Claim 13, against Benoni Lachance, Antoine Martin and
Preston & Dolan. This suit involves the question of title to all of 13, save the
Catholic Church property. Humphrey & Perkins for the plaintiffs; E. Hadley,
Judge Brown and P. N. Packard for defendants.

The above are all suits in which initiatory steps have been
taken to quiet title to the old French claims of St. Ignace, but more will
undoubtedly be begun in the near future.

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OF MACKINAC AND ST. IGNACE.

The first house of worship erected on the western shore of
Lake Huron was that at St. Ignace, by Pere Marquette, in 1670-71. Subsequently,
a church building was erected at Old Mackinac, which was moved to the Island
after the transfer of the military post, and placed where is the old cemetery on
Astor street. Those old buildings had passed away long before Father
Matchichelli built the Island Church, in 1824, or Father Bouduel caused the
erection of the house of worship at St. Ignace, in 1832. The present church at
the latter mission was built in 1832, although Father Jacker gives the year
1838, and evidently left unimproved from that period until 1882, when it was
restored by Rev. Killian Haas, of the Capuchin order.

A painting, representing St. Ignatius casting aside all worldly aims and
embracing the spiritual life, is placed above the altar. There is a skull lying
on his oratory table, while close by is the title-page of the book "Exercitia
Spiritualia," or "Spiritual Retreat," which was published before his death,
shortly after be resigned his military position. Representations of matrimony, a
purse, a crown, a lute and a scourge are all present in the picture.

The painting was brought from Rome to France, next to Quebec
and then to St. Ignace, by Rev. Pere Bouduel, in 1832, and placed over the altar
of the little church, which he built that year.

The following named missionary priests have served in the
Catholic Church at Michilimackinac, at St. Ignace and at other missions in the
neighborhood. The dates set opposite their names indicate the first and the last
years of their visits. Most of them made only occasional visits, having other
parishes in their charge:

The congregation comprises fifty Franco-American families,
thirty-four Irish families and forty Indian families. The sermons are preached
in English, French and Otchipwe. Together with these families, there are about
200 adults belonging to the congregation.

There are 660 acres of land adjoining the village belonging
to the church. It is proposed to build a new church in a few years, and place
the old one at the disposal of nuns for educational purposes.

Old Marriage Register.—Where the
names of the same parties appear under different dates, the first date indicates
the civil marriage or contract. The spelling of the names has been literally
followed:

The name of Joseph Vaillancourt suggests a little piece of
local history. The building that is now the Government granary was used in early
days as a storehouse. It was noticed that there was a larger percentage of
shrinkage in a certain barrel of pork that is allowed even now by the Commissary
General, and that when a change of level of the brine occurred, it took place
during the night. A sharpened steel trap was prepared and anchored beneath the
surface of the brine.

A day or two afterward, the brine presented a reddish tinge,
and a day or two later, the post surgeon was called upon to complete the
amputation of two fingers. No fees were charged, no questions asked, and no
information volunteered as to who or what began and left the operation
unfinished.

Mr. D. A. Winslow, in his historical sketch of Berrien
County, describes the death and burial of Charles Chandonnet as follows:

During the war of 1812, and in that year, John B. Chandonai
was in the service of the United States, and was engaged in carrying dispatches
from Detroit to Chicago. On one of his trips from Chicago, in company with the
elder Robert Forsythe, he stopped near the mouth of St. Joseph River, and camped
near the upper end of the Burnett orchard. His uncle of the same name, then
stationed at Mackinac, but that place, being in the possession of the British,
was sent by the commandant of that post, with a force of some thirty Indians in
canoes, to intercept John B. with the dispatches, and to take him prisoner to
Mackinac. This force arrived in the night, and early in the morning his uncle
called on John B., and made known his business. John B. had a double-barreled
gun in his hands, and told his uncle he should not go with him or be taken
prisoner. He then drew a line on the ground, and told his uncle he must not
cross it; but his uncle, determined on his victim, drew his sword and advanced.
As he stepped over the line, he was shot dead by the nephew.

The report of the gun aroused the Indians, who went to John's
camp. He met them as he did his uncle, and, speaking their language, pointed to
his uncle's dead body and to the dead line; said he had shot his uncle to save
his own life; that he was sorry he had to do it, but if taken prisoner, he
himself would have been killed; that he would not be taken alive, and the first
one that attempted to cross the line was a dead Indian. The Indians held a
council, and terms were agreed upon. The Indians were to have ten gallons of
whisky the next morning—were to help John B. bury his uncle immediately—he and
his traveling companion were to be allowed to depart in peace. Arrangements were
made with Mr. Burnett, by which the Indians were to have the whisky as agreed
upon. John B. buried his uncle on the hill back of his camp, and, after raising
a cross over his grave, he and Mr Forsythe immediately departed for Detroit. The
next morning, Mr. Burnett gave the Indians the ten gallons of whisky, and they
started for Mackinac.

Jean Baptiste Perault was a Canadian, who came to Mackinac
while quite young, and previous to the war of 1812. He died some years ago,
leaving no heirs here. There is a large and valuable property in Michigan
awaiting the claiming of his relatives. Genealogists will do well to look at
their records.